#10: The Hands of My Father By Christopher Jon Heuer

"The Hands of My Father" is a interesting poem. I found the similarity between the father and son which they both have "peace". The father work at the farm and dislike noise while the son are deaf. Seem like the father and son communicate with their hand through silence.

The author compare the difference of the father's and son's silence. As it quotes, "To him a sense...My silence was famine and disease, forces of nature he could not root out, or control. Or cure." This explained that the father type of silence is by the uses of senses as he is capable of hear things but have preference chosing if he want or does not want silence. The son type of silence as most people consider as a disease which he is profoundly deaf. He is not able to choose to have silence as his father and there is nothing that the son can do to have noise if he happen to like noise.

The poem seem to have negative tone as the father regret for not given the time to communicate with his son referring from the last stanza.

The whole meaning of the poem is that just because there is a communication barrier between the father and son they will still love each other and have the form of connection. Remember, many ways of how to communicate with ones another.

I felt the same way in this poem with my family even if I can talk to my family because how I portray toward my family is different than how I portray myself in the deaf community. I am fortunate to have some of them know some ASL but it was not enough. One of my older sister took ASL class because she really want to support my sister and me. I have a young sister who is still learning, for this I always love to have her with me. My father know little ASL but does not seem to take the time to learn it that is similar to the poem. I felt like my father kind of regret it and to him it seem like it too late but it not. I will have to ask my father one day.